Trump’s Advisor hails Egypt’s reform program on women empowerment

Mon, Apr. 8, 2019

CAIRO – 8 April 2019: US President Donald Trump’s Advisor, Ivanka Trump, hailed on Thursday, April 5, Egypt’s reform program on women empowerment, stating on her Twitter account “We encourage & support these reforms, & look forward to working with the Egyptian government to advance these efforts.”

Egyptian President Al Sisi delivered an important speech last weekend calling for major reforms aimed at empowering Egyptian women. We encourage & support these reforms, & look forward to working w/ the Egyptian government to advance these efforts.@AlsisiOfficial#WGDP

On Egyptian Women Day, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi announced seven decisions on women empowerment, including adoption of laws that aim at protecting women’s rights, putting an end to demotic violence and tackling the issues of early marriage and deprivation of education and post-divorce rights.

The decisions the government must meet are

1- To study means to achieve greater participation of women in the labor market; provide an appropriate and supportive environment, and appropriate social protection for women; encourage women who work in the informal sector to shift to the formal sector and to enter nontraditional sectors in which their ambitions are fulfilled.

2- To draft an appropriate legislation aimed at protecting women effectively from all forms of psychological and physical violence taking into consideration that early marriage before the legal age, and denying women and their children an appropriate amount of money in case of divorce are forms of violence.

3- To conduct a deeper and more comprehensive study of the phenomenon of women in debt, and draft legislations and policies that would reduce this phenomenon because of its implications on the Egyptian family.

4- To study the promulgation of a new personal status law and effectively implement “Mawada” program.

“In the light of the previous instructions to draft a family awareness program to prepare youth for the responsibilities of marriage, I look forward to the effective and positive implementation of “Mawada” program, which will bring about the stability of the family and preserve the rights of both spouses; along with studying the issuance of a new personal status law,” the president said.

5- To take the necessary measures to achieve financial inclusion, technological empowerment of women and provide more support for small projects that offer work opportunities to women.

6- To promote further political participation and greater engagement by women in various sectors.

“In light of our pride of the representation and role of women in parliament and cabinet, which is the highest in the history of Egypt, I call for greater political participation and greater engagement in various sectors. Egypt is in the process of building its renaissance, and it is in need of the efforts of its daughters, side by side with its sons,” the president said.

7- To study the amendment of the Public Service Law to become a tool for training and qualifying Egyptian young women to join the labor market, besides developing the necessary mechanisms and incentives to achieve this.

President Sisi will meet with US President Donald Trump in the White House on April 9.

Sisi’s visit to Washington cames at Trump’s invitation to discuss bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual concern, said Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi in a statement last week.

The White House announced in a statement that the meeting comes in light of the continuing cooperation between both countries on economic, military and counter-terrorism levels.

“The two leaders will also discuss developments and shared priorities in the region, including enhancing regional economic integration and addressing ongoing conflicts, and Egypt’s longstanding role as a lynchpin of regional stability,” the statement read.

In April 2017, President Trump welcomed Sisi to the White House for the first time in eight years, pledging close cooperation with the Egyptian leader on counterterrorism operations and praising his leadership of the Middle Eastern nation.